Relationship violence is defined by sexual, physical, and psychological actions that attempt to control and harm another person in an intimate relationship. Research suggests that some exogenous variables, such as parental conflict, have an effect on children's relationship violence later in life. Furthermore, research has shown that exposure to parental conflict is related to anger expressiveness, and that anger control is related to dating violence. There have been many proposed explanations for this association between parental conflict and dating violence perpetration, including social learning theory. It is possible that children exposed to parental conflict may not learn the skills necessary to control their anger, and are consequently at higher risk for perpetrating acts of violence in their romantic relationships. This study examines whether anger control can explain the relationship between parental conflict and relationship violence. Three hundred sixty five college students completed a 45-minute online survey, which included the Family Experiences Scale (FES), the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationship Inventory (CADRI), and the Self-Efficacy-Teen Conflict Survey. Results indicate that anger control mediates the relationship between parental conflict and relationship violence, but only among men. This research supports past research on these variables with additional statistical support. Theoretically, teaching anger control techniques could be a successful intervention in young men in order to attenuate the effects of parental conflict on dating violence perpetration.
